Strike Team
by John Hitchcock
Summary: When a previously-unknown associate of Imran Zakhaev turns up in Las Vegas, Soap and Gaz must team up with the Rainbow Strike Team to stop her. Incorporates elements of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Rainbow Six: Vegas 2


**Author's Note:** This story makes use of my version of Soap, the same one who appeared in my short story After the Call of Duty. I thought it may be good to provide some background on why I did that, given the criticism I've gotten. You see, I've got something of a weird relationship with the Call of Duty franchise, which includes a few beefs related to their reluctance to depict female soldiers. When I wrote After the Call of Duty, I had only played Modern Warfare and had not played any of the sequels. Because in that game we don't see Soap or hear the character's voice, I took advantage of that to imagine the character as female (something I've also suspected could possibly work for Paul Jackson as well). Personally, I liked the version I came up with better than the "official" one, and I will never forgive Modern Warfare 2 and 3 for contradicting it.

The chopper came down for a landing. Gunfire was everywhere as the three men and one woman made their way towards it.

"LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" Captain Price yelled out as he fired at the incoming soldiers, bolting towards the chopper.

The woman paused, turning around and lifting her gun. She fired a few more rounds, taking out three more enemies, before turning back towards the chopper. The three men were already aboard by the time she reached climbed in and took a seat. The chopper took off, leaving behind the pursuing soldiers.

Captain Price turned toward the woman, relieved. "It's good to have you back, Soap," he said. "If I had to spend another week with that imposter I don't know what I would have done."

"What's going on?" Nikolai asked. "This person you called Soap. First she was woman, then man, now a woman again."

"It's a long story," Price explained. "Top secret, too. Soap here had a special mission and we had to maintain the utmost secrecy. That meant we couldn't let word get out that she'd even been transferred, so we had another soldier take her name. I had to pretend I liked that man. It was annoying."

"Well, he's dead now," Gaz remarked. "And Soap's back in action. The records will say you were seriously wounded in Russia."

Soap nodded.

"In the meantime," Price said. "The mission was a success. I'm buying drinks when we get out of here."

Soap smiled. For her, it was another day at the S.A.S.

The next morning, the soldiers gathered around. Price was waiting over at the terminals.

"Alright men," Price said as he watched his troops gather. It was a small tactic he had deployed when Soap arrived. Being the only woman serving in his unit, Price had made a strong point of referring to Soap as a male, even going as far as to have her perform her test in a mask and bulky armor.

The reasoning was easy enough: he wanted to be sure that she was judged purely on her skill and that her gender was not a factor in anyone's judgement, for better or worse. In short, she was to be treated no differently from any male recruit. The move had paid off, and Soap was usually treated as nothing more than one of the guys.

"We've got ourselves a new mission," Price continued. "This time, we'll be working with Rainbow."

"Rainbow?" Gaz asked. "The counter-terrorist organization? What do they want with us?"

"Our unit is the one who best knows the actions of Zakhaev."

"Zakhaev?" Gaz asked. "I thought he was dead! Soap shot him."

"He is dead," Price continued. "However, we missed an associate of his, Ingrid Mortilla. In his absence, she's taken over Zakhaev's arms business. The good news is Rainbow's found them. The bad news is because of her ties to Zakhaev, they want us to go along with them."

"What's the plan, then?" Soap asked.

"Soap, you and Gaz will be representing our organization. You are to report to the chopper for delivery at 0800 hours, at which time you'll rendezvous with the SWAT Team."

The chopper came down for a landing, and the door opened. Already a few SWAT officers were waiting for the two operatives as they climbed out. Soap was first, followed by Gaz.

One particular officer approached them, a woman with short brown hair. She was dressed in uniform, black armor over a navy blue shirt.

"You're the two S.A.S. consultants?" She asked.

"That's right, mate," Gaz replied. "I'm Gaz, and this is Soap."

"Soap?" the woman asked. "That's a strange name."

"It's a long story," Soap said with a smile.

"My name's Bishop. You'll be working for me during this mission. Come on, I'll introduce you to the rest of the team."

Bishop led Soap and Gaz toward the base that had been set up. Inside, they were confronted by two other men.

"That's Jung," Bishop explained, motioning towards one man. "And there's Michael. They'll be going in with us."

Another woman approached, this one also in uniform and displaying light brown hair even shorter than Bishop's.

"These the two S.A.S. members?" She asked.

"That's right," Bishop replied. "Gaz, Soap, this is Sharon, our intelligence officer. She's our eye in the sky. And over there is Knight."

Bishop motioned to another young woman was busy assembling an assault rifle. She looked at the new arrivals momentarily, not saying a word.

"She doesn't talk much," Bishop said. "But she's got your back in a fight. That should complete the introductions. Any information you can provide here will be useful."

"Unfortunately," Gaz said. "We didn't know about Ingrid when we were after Zakhaev."

"Not many people did. Come on, you'd better gear up. We're supposed to be in the air in twenty minutes."

The chopper was crowded. In the co-pilot's seat, Sharon was watching below. Soap was seated next to Knight and across from Gaz, who had his rifle positioned. Micheal and Jung were both crowded into one area.

"We're approaching the drop site," Sharon reported from her position.

"Good," Bishop said.

"I'm looking at the building schematics," Sharon said. "It looks like there's three entrances we can use. I'd recommend sending two people to each and keeping in radio contact at all times.

"Roger that," Michael said.

"Alright then," Gaz added.

"Okay," Bishop said. "Gaz, you and Michael take the front entrance. Jung, you're with Knight. I guess that leaves Soap with me. We'll be going in through the rear. We'll clear our areas and then regroup. Okay, let's move!"

Bishop quickly approached the edge of the chopper, grabbing the rope that had been dropped and sliding down. Soap was next, followed by Michael, Gaz, Jung, and Knight.

"Okay, LET'S GO!" Bishop yelled out.

Within seconds, the three groups had split and were moving to their respective targets. It was only a short sprint to the back door.

"We're in position," Bishop said into her radio.

"Ready," replied Jung.

"Affirmative," Gaz replied.

"Prepare for entry. Don't move until I give the signal."

Bishop crouched down, releasing a small camera under the door.

"I've got a pair of Tangos in the corridor. Looks like they're armed. We're going to need to flash and clear."

Soap nodded. She approached the door, standing next to it, and carefully reached for the handle. Slowly turning it, the door opened, and she swung a flashbang straight into the corridor.

"GO! GO!" Bishop yelled as she charged in, Soap behind her. Both enemies were already disoriented and confused. A few shots easily dispatched both of them.

"Back door clear!" Bishop reported over her radio.

At that moment, they received a message over their radios. It was Sharon's voice.

"It looks like there's five more tangos ahead of you, Bishop. Your best option would be to leave Soap at the door and provide covering fire from the roof."

"Copy that, Sharon," Bishop replied. She turned towards Soap. "Stack up!"

"On it," Soap replied as she approached the door, standing next to it.

Bishop moved toward a nearby staircase. At the top, she opened a door and found herself on the roof. There was a glass window in front of her which she approached and looked into.

Sure enough, there were five armed men in position. One man was wearing a mask and equipped with what looked like an assault rifle. He was standing close to the door where Soap was waiting, his back towards her. Another was walking back and forth in the middle of the room. Two others were talking among themselves.

"Okay, Soap," Bishop said over the radio. "There's one tango behind the door. A flashbang should take care of him. I'll provide supporting fire from here."

"Got it," Soap replied. She reached for the door, carefully opening it slowly. Before the enemy knew what hit him, she had thrown in a flashbang.

The close range wasn't easy to deal with. Soap's own ears were ringing from the blast, but it looked like her target had been affected far worse. She charged inside, and took him out with two shots. The other men began firing, and she heard glass shatter as Bishop took out two more with her sniper rifle. Soap fired one last shot and took out the last remaining tango.

Soap took a moment to catch her breath as she watched a rope fall through the broken window in the ceiling. Bishop quickly rappelled down and reunited with her partner.

"You ever considered a career in Rainbow?" Bishop asked as she approached Soap.

"I haven't,"

"You should. You'd be pretty good. Now we'd better move. We'll need to regroup with the others."

The next few corridors were fairly quiet, though that didn't leave Soap or Bishop any less paranoid. Both stayed alert, keeping their guns ready for action.

"So who is this Zakhaev fellow, anyway?" Bishop asked.

"A Russian Terrorist. He almost fired a few missiles at America and ran an international terrorist organization. We got him, but we didn't know about this new associate of his until now."

"So she really hates America, then?" Bishop asked.

"Pretty much," Soap replied.

At that moment there was movement. In a few seconds she was pointing her gun towards someone. The dim lighting made it hard to see who was there, but he wasn't shooting at her right away. It took a moment for her to lower her gun in relief on recognizing Gaz. He lowered his gun quickly.

"Building's clear so far," He said.

"We had a few tangos but nothing heavy," Soap explained.

"Alright. Come on, the others are waiting for us."

Gaz led the two women into the next corridor, where Michael, Jung, and Knight were waiting.

"Good, you made it," Michael said.

"What's the situation?"

"The next room's crawling with Tangos," Jung said. "I think we're getting close."

"Okay," Bishop replied. "We'll use smoke. Knight, get up those stairs and see if you can find a place to cover us. Soap, Gaz, you're with me. LET'S MOVE!"

Knight quickly ran up the nearby stairs as Jung placed a C4 charge on the door. There was a loud BANG and it swung open.

"FLASHBANG!" Bishop yelled. Soap grabbed a flashbang and tossed it through the door. One more smoke grenade made things easier.

Soap pulled down her infrared goggles, following Bishop into the next room. The smoke seemed to reduce visibility for the enemies, fortunately. However, she could see them clearly.

"COME ON!" One of the tangos yelled. "AIM AND SHOOT!"

Bullets flew past them. A few precise shots quickly dispatched two in front. The smoke was starting to clear, and now they had to get behind cover.

Soap quickly ducked behind some barrels as a few bullets barely missed her. "Anyone got eyes on the Tango?" She asked.

"He's hiding behind cover!" Michael yelled out. "It's going to be hard to get to him from here."

At that moment, there was silence. The gun stopped. Soap stood and looked toward where the tango had been. He was lying on the ground.

From her spot on the balcony above, Knight smiled.

"Nice shot, mate!" Gaz yelled out. "You considered joining the S.A.S."

Knight shrugged.

Sharon's voice came in through the radio. "Bishop, Soap, it looks like you're getting close to your target. There's a staircase right in front of you that should take you up a few flights. A lot of Tangos seem to be gathered around there, and I've got a few more on the roof. It look as if Ingrid is going to try to catch a flight out of here. We can't let that happen."

"Copy that," Bishop replied. She turned toward the others.

"Gaz, Knight, up the stairs. Recon only."

"On it," Gaz replied as he ran up the stairs, Knight following closely behind.

"It looks like there's two entrances to the room. If you enter from different sides, the tangos should be surrounded and you can take them out quickly before climbing to the roof.

"Sounds good," Bishop replied. "LET'S GO!"

Bishop ran towards the stairs, moving up before being followed by Michael, Jung, and Soap.

"Try to stay out of the window!" Gaz said, motioning towards the window nearby.

Bishop took a moment to inspect the two doors. She crouched under the window and turned a corner toward one other door.

"Looks like five tangos in there," Gaz reported.

"And they're surrounded." Bishop said. "This is going to be easy! I can break the window and throw in a flashbang. While they're disoriented, Michael and Jung can place charges on the doors. Soap, Gaz, you two stand by for entry. Knight can provide covering fire. With any luck, we should have the tangos down in a few seconds. Everyone clear."

"Got it," Gaz said. He quickly moved towards one of the doors. Soap stood in front as Michael remained beside it. Bishop stood against the wall. With one hard swing she smashed the window.

"WHAT WAS THAT!" One man yelled. Before he could react, Bishop had thrown a flashbang through the broken window.

"BREACH AND CLEAR!"

Michael and Jung both placed charges onto their respective doors. There was a loud BANG and both swung open. The disoriented tangos didn't stand a chance as they were shot by Soap and Gaz.

"That was close," Bishop said. "Come on, let's get to the roof! There stairway should be over here."

Bishop swung open a door as she stepped out onto the open rooftop, Soap following closely behind. Bishop signalled for the rest of the team to wait. The two women took cover behind the large metal plating of the building's air conditioner.

In front of them, they could see the target waiting. Ingrid looked intimidating enough, and she had a few bodyguards with her as well. It wasn't going to be easy getting to her, especially on an open rooftop like this. To make matters worse, the chopper was on its way. It was approaching the building quickly.

"Knight, I got eyes on the chopper. You think you can get it with a sniper shot?"

There was silence. "She seems to think she can," Gaz clarified over the radio.

"Good," Bishop replied. "I need you to act as spotter. We need a good shot. If that chopper lands we're finished!"

Soap turned around to see Knight stepping out of the door, slowly and quietly like always. Gaz was right behind her, weapon in hand.

"Michael, Jung. We need you to provide a distraction."

"Copy that!" Jung replied. "We can circle around and take them from the other side."

"Sounds good," Bishop said. "Don't engage until the chopper's down!"

"Affirmative,"

It was a difficult period of waiting. The chopper was getting closer. Gaz watched through his binoculars as he gave instructions to knight. She remained cold as she made the appropriate adjustments to her sniper rifle.

"It's now or never," Gaz said. "TAKE THE SHOT!"

Knight fired. There was a crack in the window of the chopper and it began to wobble, to the confusion of the other tangos. Smoke was coming from the rotors and it was starting to spin out of control. It was going down, spinning away from the building.

At that moment, there were gun shots. Michael and Jung were already firing from the other side.

"ON ME!" Bishop yelled as she climbed over the air conditioner and ran towards the tangos. Soap was right behind her, with Gaz following moments later.

"Weapons free!" Bishop shouted.

In a few seconds, it was over. The tangos lay on the ground, Ingrid among them.

"I guess that's the last we'll have to worry about Zakhaev," Gaz remarked.

"I hope so," Soap replied.

"Building's cleared. Tangos down," Bishop reported into her radio. "We're ready for pickup!"

"Copy that," Sharon replied. "We're on our way to you know."

It only took a few minutes for the chopper to arrive and land on the roof of the building. The exhausted team climbed inside, feeling a sense of relief.

"We did it," Soap said as they took off. "We got them."

"Amazing job everyone," Gaz called out. "I'm buying the next round of drinks."

"I'll do it," Bishop said. "You were working for me, after all."

That evening, at the pub, the team quickly ordered around a drinks. Bishop had taken off her bulky armor, instead preferring to wear a common tank top that showed her muscles. Soap had taken off much of her gear as well, not an unjustified move given they were in a public place. On the other side of the bar, Gaz had a drink with Knight. Only a few minutes later she pulled him towards her and gave him a large kiss.

"I never did understand Knight's taste in men," Bishop commented as she took a swig of her drink. Soap was next to her.

"I like you," Bishop muttered. "I could really use someone like you on my team."

"I know," Soap replied. "But I just got back with the S.A.S."

"SOAP!" A deep, loud voice with a very thick accent called out. She turned around and quickly recognized the face of Captain Price.

"So, you decided to have a party without me!"

Soap paused, surprised to see her commander had made it. He approached and took a seat at the table.

"Gaz looks like he's having a good time," Price remarked, motioning towards the far side.

Knight was leading him into the ladies room, taking the time to place an "out of order sign," on the door before moving inside.

"I hear you did an excellent job," Price said. "This must Bishop?"

"That's right."

"I hear you're good at stopping terrorists. We could use someone like you in S.A.S."

Bishop paused. "You're offering me a job?"

"Why not? It doesn't pay much but you get to see the world and save the day."

"A change of scenery probably wouldn't be too bad. A place like Vegas can get tedious after a while."

"It's settled then. Tomorrow morning I'd like to see what you can do, but for now, how about another round on me?"

Price signaled to the waiter. "Bring a couple lagers please!"

 **The End**


End file.
